Changes in planning law cost Reading Borough Council almost £1.2 million in lost contributions

That was the view of the deputy leader of the council Councillor Tony Page, who accused communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles – the architect of the planning regulation changes – of 'vindictiveness towards local government'

Local government secretary Eric Pickles has been accused of costing Reading Borough Council £1.2 in lost fees

Changes in planning law have cost Reading Borough Council almost £1.2 million in lost contributions and will lead to the creation of “the slums of the future”.

That was the view of the deputy leader of the council Councillor Tony Page, who accused communities and local government secretary Eric Pickles – the architect of the planning regulation changes – of “vindictiveness towards local government”.

At the full council meeting on Tuesday, Cllr Bet Tickner asked how much the council has lost in fee income and Section 106 contributions towards affordable housing, education, leisure and open space.

Cllr Page said between May last year, when the new “prior approval provisions” relating to offices converted to homes came into force, and March this year, 25 application were approved. Between April 1 and June 5, six further applications were approved and five were outstanding.

He said: “The total of 36 applications approved and still outstanding at June 5, 2014, would have brought in fee income of £83,284 (allowing for the £80 fee for each change of offices to residential property approval application, introduced in October 2013, and excluding the applications of sites with existing extant planning permissions for the same development) if these applications had been submitted for full planning permission.

“This figure does not include fees that would have been submitted for applications that were refused or were subsequently withdrawn.”

In relations to Section 106 developer contributions over the same period, the council would have been able to ask developers for a total of £511,000 in contributions to off-site affordable housing, £72,824 for education and £505,000 for leisure and open spaces.

In addition, the council would have been able to insist that 65 of the housing units were affordable.

In a debate about the Queen’s Speech later in the evening, Cllr Page expanded on the changes in planning regulations.

He said the lack of planning scrutiny of the developments could lead to the “most appalling substandard accommodation”.

Cllr Page cited the example of being unable to prevent the siting of living rooms over bedrooms in blocks of flats.

He said: “These are the slums of the future that are being invested in.”

Cllr Page said it was big property developers taking advantage of the changes “so they could make even bigger profits”.

Cllr Richard Willis accused the Labour members of talking “doom and gloom” and spoke of the money which had come to the borough to invest in Reading Station and “a very significant slug of money coming from central government in spending for local schools”.